An Amazing Aerial Battle! (Japanese: フキヨセジム！VSフウロ空中決戦！！Fukiyose Gym! VS Huuro, A Decisive Air Battle!!) is the 68th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 725th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 1, 2012 and in the United States on June 30, 2012.

Contents

Synopsis

The episode starts off by revealing Ash’s choices for his Gym battle against Skyla. He sends out his Tranquill, Krokorok, and Pikachu. Skyla commends Ash for his well-balanced team, however she believes that she’ll win so there will be no point in battling. However the Pokémon Trainers who were spectating the earlier battle between Cilan and Skyla want to see Skyla battle Ash, allowing Ash to skip all of their turns to watch another true battle. With some convincing from Miles as well as Swanna's agreement, Skyla accepts Ash’s challenge. Skyla runs through an Air Battle and deduces that Krokorok, with Flying type’s immunity to Ground-type-type moves, Krokorok will lose to her Swoobat. Her Unfezant, being the evolved form of Tranquill, will easily outclass Ash’s Tranquill. With two of them out of the way, only Pikachu has a fighting chance. Ash tries to voice his opinions, but Skyla stops him and tells him to come back to the Gym the next day at noon.

Later that night at the Pokémon Center, Ash plans his strategy to take down Skyla. Ash tells Iris and Cilan that he had decided to use Tranquill, Krokorok, and Pikachu on a whim, but he decides that the will of his Pokémon will help him prevail. The next day, Ash, Iris, and Cilan return to the Gym where a large crowd has gathered to finally see a real Gym battle. Cilan hopes that Ash will win and change Skyla’s heart so that Cilan’s battle the previous day wasn’t for nothing. As Miles introduces Ash and Skyla, Ash ascends from underground on a platform to the field. On the opposite side, a large cannon comes out and fires Skyla high into the sky. After a flashy display of gliding through hoops tied to balloons with her glider pack, Skyla lands on the field ready to begin the match. Miles declares that the Gym Battle will be 3-on-3 and promptly begins the match.

Ash sends out Krokorok first as Skyla sends out her Swoobat. Krokorok starts off by using Crunch, however Swoobat dodges and retaliates with Air Cutter. Krokorok quickly uses Dig to dodge the attack to stay underground, out of Swoobat's reach. Swoobat flies low trying to predict where Krokorok will appear. Krokorok jumps from out of the ground and unleashes Stone Edge. Swoobat reflects it back at Krokorok it with Gust but one manages to hit Swoobat while all of the others repelled by Gust are dodged by Krokorok. Swoobat recovers from its damage and fires off an Air Cutter attack, which throws Krokorok into the ground, knocking it out.

Tranquill is sent out to replace Krokorok. Tranquill starts off with an Air Cutter, but Swoobat counters with its own Air Cutter. Tranquill then uses Gust only to be stopped by Swoobat’s own Gust. Skyla tells Swoobat to fly up high, but Tranquill chases it. Tranquill attacks with Wing Attack which Swoobat manages to dodge, but she follows up with Air Cutter which hits Swoobat and sends it to the ground, putting it out of the battle.

Ash asks Skyla if she’s changed her mind yet, but Skyla replies that Swoobat was already at a disadvantage from its battle with Krokorok, and still, the battle is going exactly as she had planned. Skyla decides to call out her Unfezant, which puts Tranquill at a disadvantage due to its higher form. Tranquill starts off with a Quick Attack, but Unfezant dodges and then starts to fly downward with Tranquill following, then suddenly ascends causing Tranquill to stop her attacks. Unfezant fires off an Air Slash but Tranquill manages to dodge all of the attacks, but is heavily fatigued.

Ash decides to recall her back for now, and Pikachu steps into the field to challenge Unfezant. With the advantage of Pikachu’s Electric type over Flying types, Pikachu starts off with an Electro Ball but Unfezant quickly flies up to dodge. Unfezant retaliates with an Air Slash, which manages to hit Pikachu. Unfezant starts to use Aerial Ace. Ash tells Pikachu to ready an Iron Tail and wait until Unfezant gets close. Right as Unfezant is about to hit Pikachu, Pikachu attacks Unfezant with his prepared Iron Tail then hits Unfezant with an Electro Ball, causing Unfezant to faint.

With the advantage now on Ash’s side he asks Skyla what she thinks now. Skyla, still says things are going the way she had thought, after all, she knew Ash would rely on Pikachu heavily in the battle. Skyla calls out Swanna. Pikachu attacks with Thunderbolt but Swanna activates an Aqua Ring which neutralizes Thunderbolt. Pikachu tries to attack with Electro Ball, but Aqua Ring once again blocks it. Skyla reveals that she watched videos of Miles back when he was the Gym Leader and learned of this strategy to help fight off Swanna’s glaring weakness to Electric-Type Attacks. With no possibility that Pikachu can utilize his electricity, Pikachu attacks with Iron Tail, but Swanna flies up high and dodges. As Ash notices the rings, which Skyla flew through during her decent to the field, he tells Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Pikachu uses the rings to help it reach Swanna and Quick Attack barely manages to hit Swanna. Swanna attacks back with BubbleBeam which knocks Pikachu off of the rings then continues to attack with Hurricane. Hurricane throws Pikachu into the air and Swanna attacks with Brave Bird. Pikachu crashes into the ground. Skyla expects that Pikachu is finished, but Pikachu stands up. However the damage is too much for Pikachu and Ash decides that Pikachu shouldn’t push himself anymore. Miles declares Pikachu unable to battle.

Ash sends Tranquill back out and Tranquill starts off with a Quick Attack, which clips Swanna. Tranquill unleashes an Air Cutter attack which Swanna dodges until one manages to score a clean hit on it. Tranquill quickly rushes back down to the ground and attacks with Gust, however Swanna counters and overpowers Gust with a Hurricane. Hurricane swallows Tranquill and throws her onto the ground. She is badly hurt and doesn’t seem like she’s going to get back up. However, Tranquill begins to glow as she stands back up, Tranquill evolves into Unfezant. With her new form and her new found vigor, Unfezant attacks with Air Cutter but Swanna flies up to dodge. Unfezant chases after it, but Swanna quickly turns and attacks with Brave Bird, hitting Unfezant. Swanna tries to attack once more but Unfezant flies faster than Swanna, allowing it to escape the attack. Swanna begins to tail Unfezant throughout the Gym but is unable to hit her. Unfezant snaps behind Swanna and uses her new move, Aerial Ace. Swanna and Unfezant fly around in circles trying to hit one another with no avail. Unfezant finally manages lock onto Swanna and attacks it with Aerial Ace, causing an explosion. As the smoke clears, Swanna falls down to the field, knocking it out, allowing Ash to win the match.

After the battle, Skyla announces that she will no longer use Air Battles, realizing that the efforts of both the Trainer and their Pokémon can bring unpredictable results. She apologizes to Miles, but Miles is happy that Skyla has realized the error of her ways and looks forward to her new start, battling the way Gym Battles were meant to be. Without further delay, Skyla thanks Ash for the great battle and awards him with the Jet Badge. Skyla, after asking Ash where he plans on heading out to next, suggests that he should head out to Icirrus City. And with that, now that Ash has six Badges, he only has two left before he can compete in the Unova League.

Dub edits

The above move error was seemingly picked up on by the producers of the dub as, rather than commanding Wing Attack, Ash instead tells Tranquill to "Attack now" (although the animation is left unchanged, meaning Tranquill's wings glow for seemingly no reason).